French Relations Did Senegal's Macky Sall Fund France's Marine Le Pen?

FROM: The Republic

Hillary Essiennmarch 12 March 2023 

Ahead of her trip, Le Pen wrote in the French newspaper L’Opinion, saying her visit ‘can become the two driving forces behind a rediscovered relationship of trust between Europe and Africa.’

On Friday, Senegal’s former prime minister Cheikh Hadjibou Soumare was taken into custody and charged with libel after he asked if President Macky Sall had provided funds to French far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen. Soumare’s lawyer, Mame Adama Gueye, told AFP that Soumare had been charged with libel and spreading ‘false information’ before being released on bail.

In an open letter, Soumare—who served as budget minister and then prime minister from 2007 to 2009 under former president Abdoulaye Wade—asked Sall whether he had donated 12 million euros ($12.7 million) to Le Pen, who was unnamed in the letter, but was described as a ‘French political figure’ whose party is distinguished ‘by hatred and rejection of others’.

Soumare asked: "If by any chance all of this were true, please enlighten the Senegalese people as to whether you acted as president of the Republic of Senegal or as a leader of a political party and with what money."

Soumare’s letter followed a meeting between Sall and Le Pen in January. It was her first trip abroad since she lost the presidential elections in April 2022 and has been perceived as laying the groundwork for her presidential aspirations in 2027. In the first round of the 2022 polls, Le Pen won 6.09 per cent of the votes of French nationals in Senegal, against 38.40 per cent for Jean-Luc Mélenchon and 33.68 per cent in favour of Emmanuel Macron.

Senegal maintains good relations with France; in December, both countries signed agreements focused on youth development to bolster further cooperation between them. Ahead of her trip, Le Pen wrote in the French newspaper L’Opinion, saying her visit ‘can become the two driving forces behind a rediscovered relationship of trust between Europe and Africa.’

The meeting held in Sall’s presidential palace in Dakar and was the last stop in her three-day visit. Le Pen met with members of the Eléments Français au Sénégal (EFS), the French armed forces in the country, and visited farms and two hospitals. She also visited the island of Gorée, where there is a museum and memorial to the victims of the Atlantic slave trade.

Le Point quotes Le Pen as saying: "It is very important not to lose contact with Africa. I wanted to start by going to Senegal, which is a pivotal country on the continent, says Marine Le Pen. The vision that I carry is not only a Franco-French vision. It is also a vision of France in the world. It is important to be able to confront it abroad."

In a statement by government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana, Sall’s government condemned the letter. While the allegations remained unaddressed, Soumare’s claims were dismissed as:

"…cowardly and baseless insinuations, which clearly demonstrate an evil desire to discredit the person of the president of the republic, to undermine the institution that he embodies and to harm relations between Senegal and a foreign power."

Le Pen’s visit and Soumare’s arrest were met with criticism by Dakar’s political elite; former prime minister Aminata Touré, who is running for president at the 2024 presidential elections, condemned the meeting, describing Le Pen on Twitter as ‘the embodiment of racism and xenophobia’. Touré also called for Soumare’s release.

In the letter, Soumare also asked if Sall, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, planned to delay the presidential elections in February 2024.  While a third term would be unconstitutional, the recent crackdown on opposition candidates has roused suspicion locally and internationally. In February, the opposition leader of the Patriots of Senegal party, Ousmane Sonko, was detained amid a trial for defamation after he accused the tourism minister, Mame Mbaye Niang, of corruption. Sonko also faces rape charges that if convicted would see him face up to ten years in prison and render him ineligible to run for president.

On Saturday, there were protests in Paris to denounce Sall’s attempt at running for a third term. However, the Senegalese president, who is also the president of the African Union, has been silent on whether he would be seeking a third term in 2024⎈

Case of journalist Pape Ndiaye: The Minister of Justice intervenes into an on-going legal case

 FROM: Dakar Matin 

by Pierre Dieme March 12, 2023 - 2:27 pm 

After his arrest followed by his transfer to the prison of Sébikotane, the case of journalist and court reporter Pape Ndiaye appears to be becoming more complex. This is if  we can assess the intervention of the Minister of Justice, Ismaïla Madior Fall,  who made comments justifying the arrest live on Sud Fm.

During the Sud fm broadcast the Minister commented on the on-going legal case by dismissing the statement of the journalist (which lead to his arrest, in which he had mentioned the opposition of 19 deputy prosecutors to the continuation of the case against opposition leader Ousmane Sonko by the Chief prosecutor)   by stating that Pape Ndiaye's statement was “False, there are 11 deputy prosecutors”,

Ismaïla Madior Fall went on to state that he finds the arrest of Pape Ndiaye very normal. “There are a lot of columnists, why  was it  that is was only him who was arrested?  His remarks undermined and discredited the reputation of magistrates, and he refuses to divulge his sources"

It should be remembered that the charges against the journalist are 

• Incitement to of a crowd
• Contempt of court
• Intimidation and reprisals against a member of the judiciary
• Speech discrediting a judicial act
• Dissemination of false news, 
• Endangering life others

according to his lawyer Me Sarr.

The journalist is currently being detained on remand
in the Prison Sébikotane.

FREE PAPE NDIAYE – SENEGALESE WALF TV JOURNALIST

 

From: Open Gambia 4th March 2023

  · 

Another journalist detained, another assault on press freedom, another crack in Senegal’s reputation as a democracy.

Respected legal columnist, the Walf TV journalist Pape Ndiaye was detained in police custody on Friday 3rd March in Dakar. The reason given for his arrest was given as being for "spreading false news" and "contempt of court". The arrest follows a broadcast by Pape Ndiaye on Walf TV’s breakfast show!

During this broadcast Ndiaye revealed shocking new news in relation to the Ousmane Sonko “sweet beauty” case. What he revealed was that the Prosecutor’s decision to refer the case for prosecution to the criminal chamber was made despite the fact that on two occasions the 19 deputy prosecutors reporting to him had requested that the charges against opposition leader Ousmane Sonko be dropped through lack of evidence.

It should be remembered that in this case the official medical report from a leading gynaecologist dismissed the act of rape or indeed any sexual relations at the time, there are no witnesses for the prosecution, the alleged victim having made a wide range of contradictory statements (including leaked audios denying the alleged rape) and overwhelming evidence supporting the allegation of a plot against the opposition leader. Ndiaye reported that despite the concerns of the 19 deputy prosecutors the prosecutor twice insisted in over-riding their concerns and referring the case to the criminal court due to the express “desire of Macky Sall”.

In the programme Pape Ndiaye also discussed the lack of independence of the Senegalese judiciary from political interference due to the control of career progression and postings within the judiciary being dependent on decisions of the Executive. He outlined a number of concrete examples of how some judges renowned for their independence, especially in relation to the Sonko case, had constantly been side-lined and subjected to “punishment postings” (postings in geographically distant courts or to courts outside their specialisms), whereas those favourable to the outcomes desired by the regime are promoted beyond their competence. He gave evidence that the issues of punishment postings and executive interference in the justice system had been raised in a report from judges themselves.

These are very legitimate issues for an investigative legal journalist to address, especially in the context of the acres of print and hours of discussion on this case, and the implications of the potential elimination of the front runner in the 2024 presidential election. The concept of “contempt of court” in this case is blatantly ridiculous given the saturation coverage of every single detail and allegation of the case

According to reports (Liberation newspaper), during the police interrogation Pape Ndiaye was asked by the investigators to reveal his sources, something that he refused to do. It should be noted that the IFJ Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists, reinforced by international and many national laws, states that; “The journalist shall observe professional secrecy regarding the source of information obtained in confidence”.

It is worrying that increasingly the freedom of the press is under attack in Senegal. It is equally worrying that there is the use of detention before trial as a means of silencing journalists who express uncomfortable views and expose inconvenient truths. Attacks on press freedoms are like a virus, borders are no barriers. Once established in one country it is only a matter of time before its neighbours start to follow the same paths to eliminate the journalistic thorns in their flesh. This is why we say “FREE PAPE NDIAYE” and “Solidarity with Senegalese journalists under attack”

From our Dakar Correspondant

SENEGAL: Macky Sall accused of funding racist French politician

From The Continent - 11 MARCH 2023  ISSUE 119

A former prime minister of Senegal, Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré, spent Thursday night in jail over an open letter he wrote to the current president, Macky Sall, asking him if he donated $12-million to a French politician whose party is best known for “hatred and rejection of others.” 

Although unnamed in the letter, the French politician was largely understood to be Marie Le Pen, who visited Sall in January and whose far-right French political party rode on anti-immigration sentiments to become a serious power contender in that country